Category: Tag: solar energy
Schools have plenty of roof space that can be turned into small power plants to provide electricity to students. Many schools have already taken actions. Some teachers even use the subject matter in their teaching. But in most cases, students are not profoundly involved in solarizing their own schools. Fig. 1: Google Map 3D vs. […]
Fig. 1: PS20 field output heat map (June, 22) Fig. 2: PS20 field output heat map (December, 22) Fig. 3: Fermat spiral layout (6/22, Phoenix, AZ) In an earlier article, I have discussed the concepts and issues (shadowing, blocking, cosine efficiency, etc.) related to the design of heliostat layouts for concentrated solar power (CSP) tower […]
Fig. 1: Visualizing shadowing loss As a one-stop-shop for solar solutions, Energy3D supports the design of concentrated solar power (CSP) stations. Although the main competitor of the CSP technology, the photovoltaic (PV) power stations, have become dominant in recent years due to the plummet of PV panel price, CSP has its own advantages and potential, […]
Fig. 1: Solar panel arrays in Energy3D A solar tracker is a system that automatically turns a solar panel or a reflector toward the sun in order to maximize the energy output of a solar power station. It is often said to be inspired by the sunflower. In general, trackers can be categorized into two […]
Computer modeling with Energy3D The free Solar Engineering Summer Camp offered by the Concord Consortium was an intensive week-long event that focused on learning and applying solar science, 3D modeling, and engineering design. It featured a solar engineer from a leading solar company as a guest speaker. The activities included hands-on and computer-based activities that […]
Modeling 1,000 PV panels in a desert Solar radiation simulation We have just added new modeling capacities to our Energy3D software for simulating photovoltaic (PV) power stations. With these additions, the latest version of the software can now simulate rooftop solar panels, solar parks, and solar power plants. Our plan is to develop Energy3D into […]
Figure 1: Google Map If you are thinking about putting solar panels on your roof, the conventional wisdom is that your house probably would be automatically disqualified if its roof does not have a large south-facing side for installing solar panels. If you have no idea about this, the sales representatives from solar companies would […]
Predicted and measured average daily insolation for 80 cities. In Parts I and II, we have documented our progress on solar radiation modeling with our Energy3D CAD software. In the past few weeks, our summer interns Siobhan Bailey from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Shiyan Jiang from University of Miami, and I have collected data for […]